


Fleeting Like Fluttering Moth Wings

by starrylitme



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa Zero, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Ambiguous Relationships, Cats, Introspection, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 23:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21261236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylitme/pseuds/starrylitme
Summary: In the dead of the night, a witch meets a strange young man with white hair and bright, clear eyes.





	Fleeting Like Fluttering Moth Wings

**Author's Note:**

> Posted this a bit later than I meant to. Whoops. But it's posted, and Happy Halloween, y'all. :D
> 
> It's a short fic with a bit of a modern magic au, mostly because I just went with the flow when writing. Still! I hope you all like it! I wrote it for the gift exchange, and my exchangee requested something with cats and magic. I love writing Kamukura with cats. I also love writing Komaeda with cats. And Matsuda. Matsuda is not present within the fic except in spirit but he is loved all the same.
> 
> I want hard caramel candies.

There are moths fluttering about the lantern. A cat stretches, its sleek fur darker than the night. Outside is quiet as if the very world was asleep. Kamukura Izuru continued to sit and read, every so often brushing back his ebony hair with a few careful fingers. Even after clicking his tongue at the cat, Yasu still prowls around the lantern, batting at any unfortunate moth who traveled too close to the ground. They only flock to the lantern, not any light that Kamukura conjures, and thus there is nothing he can do but observe.

Yasu sits up on her hind legs, flailing at the moths, and Kamukura only stares, eyes dark and lips pulled into a deep, firm line. He is undeniably bored, but not enough to shut his book and stand. Despite this being a nightly routine, despite the banality of the action, Yasu hunts with the same tail-flickering enthusiasm. Sometimes, she even sings a siren’s call to attract the moths. But once she captured a few, she would stop. Silence would seep in, but Yasu would continue to hunt.

Kamukura continues to observe, and it is all the same. Every night, without fail. While Yasu would manage to capture a few moths, she never succeeded in capturing all of them. And yet, she would attempt just that, night after night. Until she yawned and that was Kamukura’s cue to stand and fetch her. She would still mew and murble in protest, but with the lateness of the day, Kamukura put her to bed all the same.

There is a soft breeze, one that caresses the bell hanging above the open jar. Yasu meows in response to the quiet ring and shakes side to side. Her tail flickers with alertness, her gaze darting off to the side as her ears fold back. Kamukura notes this and beckons her with his hand.

“Yasu, Yasu.” She glances back, green eyes wide. Very lazily, she goes to him, hopping onto his desk and lying on his open book. Dust flutters in the air. Yasu purrs as Kamukura strokes her. The moths continue dancing around the lantern, and Kamukura watches intently as the shadows cast begin to warp, as he hears the soft trots of footsteps.

“Hello?”

A slim figure steps into the entryway. A little hunched and uncertain, this person tugs anxiously at their hood as if hesitating on whether or not to pull it down. They wobble a bit as they approach, but when Yasu meows, they let out a soft laugh. Kamukura ducked his head politely.

“Welcome,” he drones. “It is quite late thus I am curious to hear your woes.”

“Ah, woes?” The stranger licks their lips. In the dim light, Kamukura noted the silvery hue of their hair. The pale moon of their face and the gray of their eyes. It was a soft, angular face with a wavering smile. “I really do apologize; I was actually just wandering around. I was attracted here by the light—and the cat.”

When Yasu makes another sound, the stranger smiles in undeniable fondness.

“I should be the one asking why you are still open at so late an hour,” they go on. They look around, eyes darting about curiously and widening ever so slightly. “I mean—this is quite the quaint little shop you have here. Um?”

“Kamukura Izuru,” he said, tickling Yasu’s tummy. “This is Yasumi. My familiar. This is a magic shop. I am a witch.”

“A witch...?”

The stranger rocks back on their heels, sucking in their breath, and then, they finally pull their hood back to reveal the bouncing, wild curls of white.

“I’m Komaeda Nagito.” Komaeda presses a hand to his chest, smile broad. “If you’re a witch then maybe you can actually help me. That said.” With a laugh, he waves that same hand. “With how late it is, I really do feel like I’m imposing. How about I visit you tomorrow when the sun is up? I’m sure you must be quite tired and missing your bed right about now, Kamukura-kun.”

Kamukura blinks at him dully, tilting his head.

“I do not care for the hour,” he replied matter-of-factly. “As a witch, I have been around for centuries. I once spent years without sleep. It is only you mere mortals with your small, insignificant lifespans that need such dreary, periodic rest.”

“Oh, is that so!” Komaeda clapped his hands with open-mouthed surprise. “That’s fascinating! I never would’ve known! This is my first time meeting a witch, you see.”

“That much is clear.” Kamukura’s eyes narrowed sharply. “I suppose I should ask what you are doing, wandering around in the dark of night. If what troubles you is that pressing a matter, it strikes me as strange that you do not wish to address it as soon as possible.”

“It’s...more that I have trouble sleeping in general...” When he focuses, he can, in fact, see the deep shadows beneath Komaeda’s clouded gaze. Komaeda’s smile twists wryly, almost as if in embarrassment. “And whatever problems I do have—I do not want to be too audacious, you see.”

“No, I do not.”

“Aha, well. Maybe you've outgrown manners, then.”

“Just tell me what troubles you,” Kamukura snapped. “I tire of your dancing around the subject and your tentativeness. I wish to know in advance if whatever ails you is worthy of my interest or not.”

“Oh, I very much doubt it would be,” Komaeda replied cheerfully. “I’m a very unremarkable and dull-minded person.”

“Tell me.” Yasu yowls as if in agreement. “Now. Komaeda Nagito.”

Komaeda is still for a moment like a statue, the smile on his face tight and unmoving. After a while, his shoulders went slack.

“I would like to be made normal. Entirely, hopelessly, worthlessly, and unexceptionally normal.”

Kamukura quirked a brow at this.

“And I know I mostly am normal, in fact,” Komaeda goes on, that smile remaining the same. “But not entirely. And that—I just don’t think I can live with that anymore. If I am to continue this wretched half-baked existence, then... I would truthfully prefer a premature ending. So, Kamukura-kun, will you help me? If it so interests you? If you can?”

Yasu meows to fill in the silence that follows.

“At least,” Komaeda says, lacing his fingers together. “That’s what I feel like I should say. If this were a novel. What do you think, Kamukura-kun?”

“I think you should return to your residence,” was the blunt reply. “The lateness likely is an influence on your behavior.”

“I really was curious about how’d you respond!” Komaeda exclaimed in protest. “To be callously sent home is just too cruel, Kamukura-kun! You wouldn’t really turn a client down like that if this were real, right?”

Yasu decides to nibble and lick his fingers. At her feistiness, Kamukura squeezed her tail. It did little to deter her, but that was expected.

“A client would come with an honest request, not to waste time at this hour.”

“Oh, that’s a good point.” Komaeda giggles, tilting his head to the side. The curls hang down, there’s a low buzz in the air, and Yasu perks up. She makes a recognizable chirp, and Komaeda just goes on, “I guess I’m the one being rude, huh? Ahaha, of course, that’s how it is.”

Kamukura does move to squish Yasu down, but she slips out easily and pounces. Maybe that was intentional. Maybe Kamukura had just wanted to see what would happen. Admittedly, the way Komaeda’s eyes went wide and how he only made a soft sound of surprise was mildly amusing. Yasu’s little claws grabbed onto his hair and Komaeda was quick to retain his balance and try and catch her. She mewled as she dug through the ivory strands and pulled out with a moth between her teeth. Komaeda does yelp as he has to detangle her claws, and a smile pulled at Kamukura’s lips.

“Careful, Komaeda Nagito,” he murmured, reaching out and squeezing her paws so that she relaxes. She purrs as she chews contently on the moth, and when she’s close enough, she nestles against Kamukura’s shoulder. “I apologize for her.”

“N-No, no, it’s fine,” Komaeda replied, flustered and combing his fingers through his hair. “She’s very cute.”

Kamukura hummed in agreement. One Komaeda’s cheek, there was a small scratch. Likely from Yasu.

_Ah._

“Maybe I really should get going,” Komaeda is saying. Both his smile and fingers are twitching as he turns on his heel. “It is later, after all.”

“Wait.”

Komaeda freezes, shoulders stiffening for but a moment. If his breath caught, it was too quiet to be heard. Past him, Kamukura sees the moths dancing about the lantern. His gaze flickers back to the boy with milky white hair and cloudy gray eyes.

“Stay for a bit,” Kamukura says. “So that I can apologize properly.”

Komaeda blinks, and he hesitates.

“I insist,” Kamukura says, more pressingly. “Just close the door so that no more moths get inside.”

Yasu mews, and somehow that is what gets Komaeda to nod, offering a small, strained smile. He turns on his heel, chuckling under his breath.

“Very well.”

It only takes a shove to shut the door.

* * *

“Actually,” Komaeda confides as Kamukura pours the tea by hand. “I don’t know how I ended up here. I just did.”

“Sometimes that happens,” Kamukura responded, setting the cup down. He flicks his fingers to conjure up cookies and arranges them neatly on a small plate. “Normally, that does mean there is a matter eating away at your being. One that magic may provide a balm to.”

“Or it’s just my luck,” Komaeda jokes with a wheeze. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Fortune is not so different from fate, one can assume.”

Yasu stretches out, but she curls into a ball as she kneads at the air.

“The idea of everything being predetermined is terribly boring,” Komaeda huffs, taking a cookie. “I do think it’s just fickle luck and nothing more.”

“You say as if that is not terribly dull in its own right.”

Komaeda does muffle a giggle against his hand.

“You got me there. So clever, Kamukura-kun. As expected of a witch, hmm?”

_Such clumsy diversion tactics. And yet, he keeps himself almost fiercely reserved. He reminds me of a certain someone. Although the two of them are akin to mist and embers. Different in many significant ways._

It is with careful motions that Komaeda sips his tea and nibbles at his cookie. His expression relaxes for a moment, eyelashes fluttering. There is a slump to his shoulders. His head lolls.

“I don’t want to ask anything of you,” he said so quietly the words were mere particles in the air. “I don’t deserve anything.”

Kamukura raises an eyebrow.

“What an asinine reason. You are a coward, then.”

“Have you ever been afraid before, Kamukura-kun?”

“It has been centuries since I have known fear. I suppose that makes me inhuman.”

Komaeda pops the rest of the cookie into his mouth. He swallows with a bit of trouble and coughs into a napkin. Yasu purrs, and Komaeda’s smile twitches as he reaches out to stroke her side.

“Will she live for centuries?”

“She will live for as long as she is able,” Kamukura said. “Be it centuries or a decade.”

“She’s clearly been spoiled and well-loved,” Komaeda went on. “I hope it remains that way in the years to come.”

_“The world is broken,” that person once said, and there is a veil of coldness over what Kamukura had known to be clear blue eyes. “The best that can be done is to make sure those we care about are taken care of.”_

Yasu sleeps without a care, and Kamukura notes the weight of years that dissipate around her. Komaeda runs his finger over his cup, and he smiles at the tea stalk still floating upright in the center.

“I envy you,” he finally says. “With how much time you have, a kind world is likelier to surround you.”

Kamukura blinks, and his eyes fall shut.

“If you so wish, you can continuously visit me in times to come.”

“What if I’m too cowardly to return?” Komaeda asks teasingly.

Kamukura thinks of the person who used to sit across from him. The man with tired yet clear eyes. Eyes that Komaeda shares even if the color is different.

“When you visit, have it be at an earlier hour,” he said. “Though I do not mind the night, humans need their rest.”

“Do you want me to visit, Kamukura-kun?”

Kamukura pursed his lips, pondering the question. He leaned forward, watching Komaeda flinch perceptively. With a careful brush of his thumb to Komaeda’s pale cheek, the scratch healed over and faded from sight. The skin warmed under his touch, and he pulled away.

“There is a matter that ails you,” he says and he searches that pale green gaze for the slightest flicker. “Perhaps it can be in the future when you are open enough to tell me.”

A smile twitched at Komaeda’s face. The flickering light of the candles cast a dark shadow as his head lowers. There is a moment of pause, of weight. Kamukura does think of quiet moments with that person, and Yasu continues to slumber peacefully.

“Maybe,” Komaeda finally affirms. “Maybe not. Perhaps in that same future, you can tell me more about yourself as well.”

He doesn’t know if he’s been seen through. Komaeda’s gaze is serene even with the darkened curve of his smile. It’s a complicated expression, one that conveys much while still keeping much else reserved. It is curious.

“Perhaps I will.”

Komaeda finishes up the tea and treats before he stands. He bows politely and pulls his hood back up.

“Take care of yourself. And, Yasumi, was it?” Komaeda laughs softly. “Take care of her, too. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Kamukura replied. Yasu’s ear twitched, but Kamukura stroked her neck, encouraging her to sleep on. Nodding and smiling, Komaeda gave a wave before turning on his heel and heading out. Once the door is shut behind him, it is not long before Komaeda has disappeared into the dark of night.

Kamukura tuts softly.

_To be taken in so suddenly and erratically... Maybe those centuries have worn on me in ways I’ve yet to realize. Or maybe...I just miss him. Those moods are unrelenting and ruthless, no matter how much time passes by. And I had so foolishly thought Yasu’s presence would alleviate the burden of his memory. But, of course, that is not how it turns out. I named her after him. Yasumi. From Yasuke. Matsuda Yasuke._

He does wonder, almost idly, about that Komaeda Nagito. A human that seemed burden by his own specters, though the nature of which was unclear.

_Luck, he said. How strange. But—I would like to learn more. Even if I have to deal with cowardice. To be normal, he said. How frustrating._

There are still moths flickering around the lantern. With a snap of his fingers, the light went out and all that encased his magic shop was darkness. Darkness upon darkness. But, the light of morning was inevitable. He would prefer to think Komaeda would visit again under a sunlit sky, smile vapid but bright.

He had enough time.

For now, he watched Yasu sleep as he laid his head upon his folded arms and waited.


End file.
